1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner provided with a curtain assembly for shielding a chink between the air conditioner and the window when the air conditioner is installed.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, air conditioner is installed at a window or the like of a building to air-condition an inner space of the building.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating appearance of a conventional air conditioner, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an inner construction of a conventional air conditioner.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional air conditioner includes a bottom base 1 of metal. Both sides and upper surface of the air conditioner are covered with a cabinet 3. The cabinet 3 has both lower ends coupled with both ends of the base 1, and an inner space for installing a variety of devices therein. An outdoor vent louver 4 formed at predetermined portions of the cabinet 3 functions as a passage through which outdoor air is inhaled into the inside of the outdoor part of the air conditioner.
The air conditioner includes a front panel 5 at a front surface thereof, and the front panel 5 includes a vent grill 7. The vent grill 7 functions as a passage through which indoor air is inhaled into the inside of the indoor part of the air conditioner. The front panel 5 has a discharge grill 9 at one side thereof. The heat-exchanged air in the air conditioner is discharged to an indoor space through the discharge grill 9. A filter is provided at a rear side of the vent grill 7 so as to purify the inhaled air.
An indoor heat exchanger 13 for exchanging heat with the air that has passed through the filter is installed at a rear side of the filter 11. The indoor heat exchanger 13 is installed at an air guide 15 mounted on the base 1. The air guide 15 guides indoor side airflow within the air conditioner. Further, the air guide 15 partitions the inside of the air conditioner into the indoor part and the outdoor part in case a separate barrier is not used. An orifice 16 guides the air that has passed through the indoor heat exchanger 13 to an indoor fan 19.
At a rear side of the air guide 15, i.e., at the outdoor part of the air conditioner, a motor 17 is provided. The motor 17 has a rotary shaft extended in bi-directions. One end of the rotary shaft penetrates the air guide 15 to extend to the indoor part, and the other end extends in an opposite direction. The indoor fan 19 is installed at the one end extending to the indoor part, and an outdoor fan 21 is installed at the other end of the rotary shaft. The indoor and outdoor fans 19 and 21 allow the airflow of the indoor part and the air of the outdoor part respectively.
To guide the airflow of the outdoor part, a shroud 23 is installed at the base 1. The shroud 23 has a space for installing the outdoor fan 21 therein to allow air to flow from one side to the other side of the space partitioned by the shroud 23. An outdoor heat exchanger 24 is installed at a rear space partitioned by the shroud 23. Accordingly, if a compressor 25 is driven, the outdoor heat exchanger 24 is heat-exchanged with the outdoor air introduced into the outdoor part through the vent louver 4. A separate discharge grill (not shown) is installed at a backside of the air conditioner to constitute the backside appearance of the air conditioner, and serves as a passage through which air that has passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 24 is discharged to the outdoor space.
In the meanwhile, a guide rail 27 is disposed on the cabinet 3. In installing the air conditioner at a window, a curtain assembly 30 for shielding a chink between the air conditioner and the window is coupled with the guide rail 27.
The curtain assembly 30 includes a curtain frame 32 having a section shaped in a ‘’ and a curtain 34 provided within the curtain frame 32 to shield the chink. An installation plate 33 is provided on the curtain frame 32 to fix the curtain assembly 30 to the window and at the same time to shield a chink between the curtain frame 32 and the window. One end of the curtain 34 in a horizontal direction is fixed to an inner portion of the curtain frame 32 and the other end is coupled to a side surface of the cabinet 3 by a screw. Accordingly, the curtain 34 has a screw coupling hole 35 at the other end thereof.
The guide rail 27 is disposed on the cabinet 3 and beneath the base 1 to guide movement of the curtain frame 32.
According to the conventional art, one end of the upper portion and one end of the lower portion in the curtain frame 32 are inserted into the guide rail 27 to be movable in a horizontal direction. Accordingly, the insertion length of the curtain frame 32 into the guide rail 27 is varied depending on the interval size between the window and the air conditioner.
However, the conventional air conditioner having the aforementioned construction has the following drawbacks.
The outer case is generally made of metallic material and is installed such that its lower portions of both sides are coupled with the base 1 on which parts of the air conditioner are equipped. Accordingly, to maintain and repair parts of the inside of the air conditioner, there is a drawback in that all the outer case 3 should be separated from the air conditioner. Also, in case the conventional air conditioner is large-sized, there is a drawback in that handling work such as carrying work is difficult.
Also, since the outdoor vent louver 4 is formed only at a part of the outer case 3, the amount of inhaled outdoor air is relatively small. To this end, there is caused a problem in that heat exchange in the indoor heat exchanger is not smooth.
In the meanwhile, the guide rail 27 is provided on the cabinet 3 and beneath the base. In other words, the guide rail 27 is exposed to the indoor space to injure the appearance of the air conditioner. Also, there is a problem in that air is leaked through a gap generated between the guide rail 27 and the window in the vertical direction.
In addition, since the guide rail 27 is fabricated after the cabinet 3 and the base 1 are fabricated, there is a problem in that the number of work processes is increased.